[mtbwrider]

I servicing my 2010 sworks stumpjumper and would like to know if these spesh branded shocks are gonna be different than others?
i just wanna do seals and oil.
the front is a s140 and rear has the brain.
is there a universal part number for these guys?
im not sure how to get them.
also, any shops near sf or peninsula that do this in house??
thanks!!!

 

[Dougal]

Brain shocks are a problem, you need to depressurize and remove the brain canister to get the air can off.
It's not a home sort of job.

 

[trailbildr]

I've done the rear Brain service before but I'm not 100% confident enough to sell the service yet. The Brain is just a remote reservoir rear shock with a brass-mass compression circuit just below the IFP. Not terribly odd, but for the actual Brain mechanism. You need a charging needle to re-charge the IFP but the Fox Float seal kit works just fine. They only make one kit for all rear shocks so no weirdness there.

I'm a Fox dealer and a Specialized dealer as well. I've been sending the Brain's back to either Spec'd or Fox for my customers but I have a test unit that I've been working with. I don't recommend messing with it if you are a casual mechanic or a good mechanic without suspension experience.

mk

 

[Dougal]

I've done the rear Brain service before but I'm not 100% confident enough to sell the service yet. The Brain is just a remote reservoir rear shock with a brass-mass compression circuit just below the IFP. Not terribly odd, but for the actual Brain mechanism. You need a charging needle to re-charge the IFP but the Fox Float seal kit works just fine. They only make one kit for all rear shocks so no weirdness there.

I'm a Fox dealer and a Specialized dealer as well. I've been sending the Brain's back to either Spec'd or Fox for my customers but I have a test unit that I've been working with. I don't recommend messing with it if you are a casual mechanic or a good mechanic without suspension experience.

mk

Specialized have a lot of shocks with a much smaller shaft than standard fox. Presumably Specialized supply those kits directly.

 

[mtbwrider]

the reason i wanted to try this myself was because all the LBSs said they would have to ship both shocks to specialized and it could take a month!!
im in san jose and sf so called trailhead and concept and some others.
all the same thing.
then i called mikes bike and viola, whadya know, they can do it in-house and
just drop it off day before. wow....all these local shops sure let me down.
and its not like they dont sell alot of spesh either. i dont get it.
anyway. gonna have mikes do it all

 

[trailbildr]

Tell Lars at Trail Head I say 'hi'. We were the best man at each other's weddings a few years back. He's Trail Head, I'm TrailWerks.

Specialized doesn't allow anyone to work on those rear shocks so Mikes Bikes is taking a flyer on your shock. Good for them, I guess. I'm hesitant to work on stuff when I know I can't get small parts, like with the newer, smaller damper body designs on some Epics.

I'm trying to open the Spec'd warranty gates to get their official blessing to service their shocks on the east coast. I'll let you know how that goes...

mk

 

[mtbwrider]

youre right.
dropped off bike yesterday and the purdy knowledgeable mechanic there was
like, uh those parts are special order.
i was a little frustrated because i asked x2 on the phone and they said no prob.
anyway, he actually had the parts delivered overnight and it ended up working
out thanks to his persistence. not too many people could have pulled that off.
now for the servicing...
they can ONLY do the seals and oil in the fork, anything else and it gets shipped out.
same with rear brain shock, somehow they sneak the seals on w/o messing with
the brain connection.

 

[trailbildr]

I've gotten Brain fork internals sent to me for in-house work. I won't say by who though.

You can't sneak all of the seals over the Brain. I've tried. They may be telling you a story on that one... If you don't have any issues, a solid cleaning and re-lubing should probably do it. No need to have the full service done, methinks. Kinda hard to say without seeing it.

mk

 

[TheBikeMechanic]

Mind that you take the blue knob off and you'll have chance at getting all of the important seals on without tearing them.... don't take it off and you will tear the air can dust wiper everytime.... there is no way to get the support rings over the brain res though. Any cutting to get them by and they tear a hole in the inner q-ring and then you have no negative chamber, which suscks...

 

[trailbildr]

The 'support rings' are called back-up rings and they are made of teflon. You don't need to replace them, just clean them. They do, in fact, support the quad seal so it doesn't twist and become non-functional. They make split and solid PTFE back-up rings, depending on where you look. Have you tried using manufactured split back-up rings or just cut ones you had? I'm curious. I haven't experimented with that.

mk